Metal and Fire
by Chaos Airlines
Summary: How did Zamba bend that metal sword? What keeps flashing past her window? And most of all. . . Where are they?
1. The storm

I've finally done it, I've begun to rewrite my story, Zamba's Awakening. I think this version's better, and I hope you all like it! So let's begin...

Zamba Nesshor sat sprawled out on the front porch steps of her house, idly gazing out into the street, watching cars pass by. She sighed and craned her neck back to gaze into the grey, cloud-filled sky. It kind of looked like it was gong to rain. She found herself watching the sky more often, like she was waiting for something. Of course, it could be that she was more bored lately, and found more fascinating things in the sky then on the ground. Yeah, it was the second week of summer, and she found herself bored out of her mind. There seemed to be nothing to do in the sleepy little town of Preeceville.

She squirmed around for a bit until she finally got up and went inside, tired of being alone at the moment and it was getting late anyway. The sky started pouring down rain as soon as she stepped inside and closed the door. She kicked off her shoes and went wandering through the house in search of her little brother, Hoai.

Hoai was twelve, with a happy go lucky attitude and large smile. He was currently in the living room watching a Japanese animated show, Zamba could tell from the animation. She sat on the couch and began to watch it with him. Okay, so there was this black-haired brown-eyed guy in a green uniform talking to a really short baby-like character that was dressed in a pink and blue outfit, complete with a pacifier and a hat with the letters "Jr." sewn on.

Outside, thunder rumbled and lightning flared threateningly. Zamba and Hoai jumped, then relaxed.

"Um," began Zamba, "What's happening? Who are those characters?"

"The one in green's Yusuke Uremeshi, he's the main guy. The one in pink and blue in Koenma, he's the main guy's boss." The brown-haired boy replied, turning back to his show. "Koenma is telling Yusuke about his next mission. Sounds like he has to find somebody."

". . . Why is Koenma a baby?" The black-haired girl asked.

Hoai shrugged. "I don't know, maybe that's how he ages?" As he finished his sentence, there was a loud crash, and the lights flickered then went out. "Aw, man! I won't be able to see the rest of my show." He protested.

"The power will come back on soon, don't worry; it's probably just a blackout of something." They waited a few minutes in darkness and silence, save a few occasional rumbles of thunder, then she said, "Okay, maybe not. A breaker probably tripped, I'll go check. You stay up here and tell me if the power comes back on."

She went to the kitchen and left her brother in the living room. The girl rummaged around in the drawers, retrieved a flashlight, went to the basement door and yanked it open, shining her light down into the dark. She rather disliked the basement, and wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. She ran down the steps, causing the dim beam of light to jump and twitch. She found the breaker box relatively quickly in her frantic search of the basement, and found that no breakers were flipped the wrong way.

Suddenly brilliant light flooded into existence behind her, scaring her more than half-to-death, and she dropped the flashlight in the process. She slowly turned around to see the source of the light, and was slightly surprised and relieved to find it not coming from the basement, were there were no lights, but from under the threshold of the door.

The lights seemed brighter than usual, but that, she assumed, was because her eyes had grown accustomed to the dark. As she began ascending the steps, she became suspicious when the light did not dim, but seemed to grow brighter. Hadn't she told her brother to call her up if the lights came on?

Shrugging off her suspicions, she turned the knob and opened the door slowly to that her eyes could have a chance to adjust. "Hoai, I thought I told you to tell me when the lights turned back on!" She scolded. There was no reply. The light became brighter, and her eyes just wouldn't dilate fast enough.

Impatient, she swung the door open all the way and stumbled into the kitchen.

The light wasn't coming from the kitchen, but from the living room. It was becoming almost barely tolerable. Zamba closed her eyes and fumbled her way into the next room.

"Hoai," She called, "Are you in here?" Once again, there was no reply. She opened her eyes and hissed in pain. The light was_ so_ bright. It was coming from. . . The TV? Her brother was sitting right in front of it, his back turned to her, creating a small shadow. "Hoai, get away from there!" She lunged at him, her eyes getting slight relief from the blinding light from the shadow he cast. "What do you think you're doing?" She raged, yanking him around to face her.

His pupils were completely dilated to the size of pinpricks, and tears were flowing down his face. His jaw was slack and drool was drizzling out of his mouth. He was limp. Zamba gasped, nearly shoving her brother away. Instead, she un-fisted her hands, releasing him. He slumped to the floor. His shadow moved with him, leaving Zamba to look strait into the light. She opened her mouth to howl in pain, but it never came out. Tear gushed down her face from the blinding light, and her pupils dilated as quickly as they could, causing more pain. It felt like her mind was being sucked out of her body through her eye sockets. She tried to force herself to look away, or close her eyes, just do something!

And then suddenly, she had not thoughts, no feelings, nothing urging her to look away from the beautiful light. Why was she trying to look away again?


	2. Arrival

Here goes….

Chapter one, Arrival

Something sticky was attached to her arm, her throat was dry, and there was a nasty taste in her mouth. Her right side was slightly sore. Voices were conversing very loudly somewhere off to her left, along with a steady beeping sound. Her head was starting to hurt a little…

She groaned, pulling open her heavy eyelids to meet a ceiling that looked like it belonged in a hospital. The bed she was in didn't feel like her own… Confused, she sat up quickly and looked about the room, catching some details before she became dizzy from sitting up so fast. An I.V. was attached to her arm, a heart monitor was blipping off in the corner of her room, the source of the beeping sound. She was in hospital clothes, and was in a hospital bed. 'What happened to me?' she thought to herself, regaining her composure.

And that's when she saw them. A girl with long magenta hair; and a boy with slicked back black hair. They were sitting by a small circular table; they must have been the ones who had been talking before. She studied them quietly as they turned to her, and she asked, "Why am I in a hospital?"

The girl answered in a very un-girlish voice, "We found you unconscious in the middle of a street yesterday." She felt stupid, realizing that this red-head "girl" was actually a guy. She flushed slightly at this mistake, a little grateful for her darker pallor. "A street?"

"It kinda looked like you got hit by a car, or fell off a building." The boy with slicked back hair piped in. She looked over at him and nearly gasped. He looked exactly like the boy from Hoai's favorite show. . . Wait, Hoai! The look on her face slipped from surprise and recognition, to worry.

"Hey," She began desperately, "Was there a little boy around? He looks kinda Hawaiian?"

"Yeah."

"Were is he? Is he here?" They both nodded. She moved to the side of her bed, swiftly removing the I.V. in the arm. She stood shakily as the boys gave nervous looks to each other. "I don't think you should…." The red-haired boy began, but she shot him an icy glare that caught him off guard momentarily. "I want to see my brother to make sure he's okay." She tottered to the door as the black-haired boy glanced to his friend, and then went after the determined short girl.

She jumped slightly as he lifted her arm and wrapped it around his shoulders helping her balance herself on her right side (which she had been favoring), even if he was a quite a few inches taller than her. "Thanks." She murmured, allowing him to lead her to her bother's room as the long red haired boy in pink followed behind.

She pulled away from the boy in green to rush to her brother, who was asleep and also had an I.V. attached to his arm. He had a few cuts, but other than that he looked fine. She threw her arms around him, "Thank God you're okay." The jolting movement his sister caused made the boy jolt awake. He started pushing her away, whining, "Get away! You're embarrassing me!"

She released him, laughing. "Ah, so you're awake! We're in the hospital. Seems we got hit by a car. . ." She winked as her brother open his mouth to protest, but he got the hint. He looked over her shoulder and his eyes widened in amazement. "Yusuke?" He whispered, but then caught the warning look she gave him.

She turned, smiling, to Yusuke, the boy with slicked back hair, and the pretty boy (whose name she didn't know) who was just entering the room. "Is it okay if I have a talk with my brother? Alone?" They nodded, leaving the room.

She turned to her brother, the smile on her face dropping to replace dead serious, don't-question-me look. "Okay, first things first. I don't think we should tell then what really happened. Heck, I don't understand it myself, but we really don't need to be labeled as loonies. We got pulled into that bright light somehow, and now we're here. Don't know exactly where 'here' is, but-" Here her brother interrupted her, blurting excitedly, "We're in Yu Yu Hakusho! We got sucked through the T. V.-"

"Stop it." She hissed. "I know, we need to figure out how to get back. This place gives me the creeps. And I want to know how we got here."

"Back to what? Home? Dad's never home, mom's gone, I have no friends!" Hoai threw his arms in the air, and Zamba looked slightly surprised. She had always assumed he had lots of friends; he brought them home a lot. "I wanna stay here."

She pulled a chair over. She watched him as he pouted; a brooding expression on her face. "You use to have friends over all the time… What happened?" She asked gently.

Yusuke poked his head in. "Hey, me and Kurama have to go. We'll see you later." She nodded as he left, then turned back to her sibling. He seemed hesitant, staring at the door sadly. "They only came over because our house was big and had lots of stuff. That's the only reason they ever talked to me. They weren't really my friends. Just people who acted." His eyes began to water slightly as he attempted to force his face to stay strait, but his emotions ran through his eyes. Anger and sadness and betrayal….He had trusted them, and had fallen, hard. She wrapped her arms around her brother comfortingly as he began to cry silently into her shoulder.

She didn't really know what to say. So she held him until he pushed away awhile later. "Sorry." He said, wiping at the dry tear-tracks. She pushed him lightly. "You better be sorry!" He looked up confused. "Why didn't you tell me earlier so I could do something about it?" She asked him softly. He shrugged, looking worn out. Zamba sighed, pulling her brother into another hug. "You better get some sleep, we'll figure out what to do later. Oh, and don't talk about this being a show or anything like that." Hoai nodded. She left the room and returned to her own.

"What do I do now?" She asked herself, running her hands through her hair. "I have no money, no place to go, I can't stay in this hospital forever. . ."

Well, there you go the actual first chapter. You finally get to meet some of the people from the show! Questions? Comments? Even Flames? Review if you will please, Thank You!


	3. Hospitality

Oh, I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. Sorry if I make some people mad by making Kurama's hair magenta, but it just doesn't look red to me. Anyways. . .

Ooh, and I wanted to make sure everyone understands. They got sucked through a portal in the T.V. They don't really understand what happened, but they realize that they will sound insane if they told anybody. So they're stuck in the show. Yeah…. I also drew a picture of Zamba; you can find it through the link in my profile.

Chapter Two

Hospitality

The hospital allowed them to stay one more night. The two siblings were sitting in Zamba's room, watching T.V. when Yusuke and the magenta-haired boy came in. Yusuke casually leaned against the doorway as the other boy stood off to the side.

"Hey." Hoai greeted, waving, as Zamba continued to watch T.V. "You know, we never told you our names." The girl spoke, her olive green eyes straying from the moving pictures to her feet and the tile below. She studied the floor, and then looked up into their faces. "My name's Zamba Nessrhor, my brother's Hoai. We don't know where our parents are, and we have no place to stay."

The magenta-haired boy spoke up. "I talked to my mother about you. I asked if it would be okay for you to stay with us for awhile. She agreed, as long as you accepted. Would you like to stay with us?"

Zamba looked quite surprised. She turned to look at her brother, who shrugged. "That's awfully nice of you, but why?"

"I feel responsible." He replied simply.

"You shouldn't, you aren't the one who ran over us." Hoai elbowed her in the stomach. "Sorry. We won't be a burden, will we?" The boy shook his head. "Wow, that's just; you're so nice, thank you!" She turned to her brother. "Now, Hoai, we should try and help around the house as repayment until I can get a job and give them real payment as thanks. Come on." She stood, turning off the T.V. and pulling her brother to his feet. "But I want to know something." She said, stopping between the two boys, who looked up at her curiously. "What are you're names?"

Oh, I'm Shuichi Minamino. Just call me Kurama." The boy introduced, and then turned to Yusuke expectantly. The black-haired boy looked up. "Huh? Oh, I'm Yusuke Urameshi." He offered his hand awkwardly, which she took and shook. They left the hospital and went off down the street, chatting about random things. Yusuke joked around a lot with Hoai, making him laugh, and making Zamba happy to see Hoai so happy. Occasionally Kurama would ask her things, like "How long have you two been abandoned?" which she'd have to reply to with a lie, causing her to feel badly. She found herself wanting to trust them. 'Oh well.' She sighed internally.

"Why do you have people call you Kurama instead of calling you Shuichi?" She asked curiously after answering a barrage of questions. "Not everyone." Kurama replied with a shrug. Zamba raised an eyebrow at him curiously, expecting more to the answer, and then decided to drop it when he didn't continue.

"They seem to be getting along well." Kurama commented, seeing that the shorter girl had a happy smile on her face from watching the two boys' antics. 'The first friend who hasn't used him for something.' She mused to herself. "Yeah." She said aloud.

"Hey, I'll pay you back for this, okay? I feel like I have to, so don't you dare refuse my money when I try to give it to you." She said, looking up into the taller boy's eyes determinedly. "I mean, you barely even know us, and yet you trust us in your home." She shook her head.

Kurama smiled lightly, "Well, like I said, I do feel responsible, because I'm the one that found you and brought you two to the hospital." He shrugged, looking feminine again.

Zamba watched him, looking jealous. "You know, you're really pretty." She said without really thinking. "I'm envious. I feel kinda ugly next to you." She then laughed, blushing. The magenta haired boy stared at her, beginning to blush a little himself. "Sorry." She apologized, still smiling. Yusuke and Hoai looked back at them curiously. She waved at them, and they shrugged, returning to their game.

". . . Thank you." Kurama mumbled, looking down so his hair covered his reddening features. The girl pulled up in front of him and looked up at his face, walking backwards to achieve this. "I didn't mean to embarrass you!" She laughed, feeling bad.

Kurama was silent for a bit, and Zamba went back to walking next to him, watching the boys again. "Why do you feel ugly?" The boy in maroon asked, turning his head to her. Zamba smiled lightly, looking up at him again, and snorted. "How can I not? Have you seen yourself?" She shook her head. "Ah, never mind."

They finally reached Kurama's house, were Kurama's mom warmly greeted them. Introductions went around, and the siblings were quickly shown around the house and to their rooms.

Zamba sat on her mat, alone in her room, holding her head in her hands. She was attempting to sort out all that had happened recently, and was just ending up with a large and very painful headache. Somehow they had been sucked through the T.V. and into this place, but why? How was it possible? Was this all just a dream? From the pain of her headache she would assume not. It just didn't make since! She just wanted to go home, back to the boring, quiet summer she was having. Was that too much to ask?

But Hoai seemed happy here, happier than he had been in a long time, she realized, thinking back on how he had been back at home. Now that she thought about it, she felt like she had known all along that he was unhappy, but just ignored him. She began to feel disappointed in herself. 'From now on,' she vowed to herself, 'I'll try to be a better sister.'

If there was one reason for her to stay, she decided, it would be for his happiness. For now, she would have to find a job and make the best of the situation. Someone knocked on the door softly, startling the contemplating sitting girl. "May I come in?" Kurama's voice asked quietly.

"Yeah," She replied, removing her head from her hands. The tall boy entered the room and took a seat on the floor nearby her. They watched each other for a little bit, and Kurama opened his mouth to say something, when Yusuke entered the room. "Kurama, we have to go." The black-haired boy pointed to a little round object that resembled a powder compact. The boy nodded, and the other left the room. "I have to go to work; I guess I'll see you later."

"Hey," Zamba called out just as he went out the door, catching his attention. "Can you help me find a job later?"

The bottle-green eyed boy smiled, replying, "Sure." Then he left the room. "Thank you!" The happy girl smiled lightly, and then turned to look out the window. She watched the wind blow through the trees in the Minamino's backyard, feeling better about this place. She sat completely still in her room, staring out the window for some time, then noticed something black streak past her window, causing her to jump.

'What was that?' she asked herself, moving to the window to look for the cause. When she saw nothing that looked out of place, she shrugged it off and went downstairs to see if Mrs. Minamino needed help with any chores.

She spent her afternoon cleaning and such, happy to do something. When Kurama came back home, looking worn out, she waved from the dining room, where she was dusting. "Hey."

Kurama waved back, and then wandered over to the couch, sighing in contentment to get off his feet. Zamba laughed at him. "What happened to you? You look like you got a little roughed up, like you were in a fight." The black girl watched him as a flash of surprise crossed his features. Then they both gave each other inquisitive looks. "You look too tired to go job searching today." She said, sitting down on a different couch.

"No, I'm okay, let's go." Kurama reluctantly replied. He got to his feet and went to the door, where he looked over his shoulder at her. "Coming?" Zamba raised a dark eyebrow at him, then got up and followed him out the door.

(A/n: What was the black shadow? What happens next? For now, I'll leave you in anticipation! Hears cricket chirps, and sweat drops, laughing nervously.)


	4. Accident

Thank you Shadow-Ninja-Fay and BlackFlamedKitsune2000, and also all who've read this story so far. I love feedback.

I know nothing uber-exciteing has happened yet, and that some parts will seem to drag on, but please bear with me, this is only the beginning! So let's begin with the next chapter, shall we?

Chapter Three

Accident

Kurama and Zamba wandered down a busy street, going from store to store collecting job applications. They ranged from ice cream parlors to bookstores to coffeehouses. The two of them idly chatted as they strolled along.

"You know, I never-" Zamba broke off, the expression of her face thoughtful. There was a long pause, which Kurama broke with, "Never what?" He looked at her curiously. A grin broke out on her face, and she laughed softly, waving him off. "Never mind. Thanks for helping me look for a job."

When they decided they had enough, the two of them headed back to Kurama's house. The poor tired boy made a beeline for the couch, sinking into it with a sigh of contentment, causing Zamba to laugh at him as she went to search for a pen to start filling her application stack out.

-One long, tedious application-filling session later-

The olive green eyed girl finished her last application and dropped the pen, shaking her hand vigorously to try to get it to stop aching. She collected her stack and put them in her room, coming back to put the pen away. Kurama was fast asleep, curled up on the couch. Zamba smiled at him, then wandered into the kitchen, were an alluring aroma was emanating from. Mrs. Minamino was fixing dinner, and Hoai was helping.

"Need any help?" The girl asked, wanting something to do. She was handed plates and was told to set the table. Obeying, the table was set, Kurama was roused, and dinner was eaten. Everyone eventually went to bed.

The next morning Zamba woke up late to a dark and rainy day. Her stack of completed applications would have to wait for tomorrow, the girl decided, staring out the window. Something black streaked past her window in the same direction as yesterday, causing the girl to jump and nearly fall off her bed. 'Again?' She asked herself internally, moving quickly to the window. Once again, she saw nothing out of the ordinary. Feeling paranoid, she left her room.

As she wandered down the hall past Kurama's room, she looked in momentarily to see if he was there. He wasn't, but she noticed something else. His window was wide open, and a small puddle was forming on the window sill from the rain drizzling in.

She went in and slid the glass down, peering a little belatedly at reflection of a black-clothed person behind her. Her eyes widened as a hand clamped down on her mouth, pulling her backwards into wet clothing, and a blade was pressed to her neck. She released an alarmed, muffled squeal and thrashed around in an attempt to get away.

Hoai, hearing the noise and the sounds of a scuffle, curiously poked his head in. "Kurama!" The boy yelled, just as scared as his sister. Footsteps pounded down the hall.

Zamba continued to struggle, clawing at the obstruction over her mouth with one hand, and desperately pushing at the cold steel dangerously close to her neck. Strangely, she felt the metal slowly give and twist away from her pushing hand. The attacker's grip on her slacked, and she tore himself away from him, scrambling as far as she could away from him. She turned to look at him once she reached the nearest wall, shoving her back against it.

She faced her assailant, studying him quickly with wide eyes; like prey watching a predator for an opening to get away. Black hair thrown up into a flame-shape with a jagged streak of white going horizontally through his bangs, black clothes, and a white bandanna wrapped around his head, all details that the scared girl took in. Then one feature caught her attention. His eyes were crimson red, like the color of blood.

The blood-eyed boy had a startled expression on his face, and he looked at his sword. It was bent, curving back on itself, looking as though a weightlifter had taken and twisted it. The boy from his ruined sword to the olive-green eyed girl, raising his eyebrow. They made eye contact and stared at each other with different expressions.

Kurama burst into the room, looking frantic from Hoai's yell. "What happened?" The two broke their He looked from Zamba, to the boy in black, to Hiei's bent sword. His expression slowly changed as he calmed down. "Interesting sword you have there, Hiei, but I don't think it would be very practical."

The boy, 'Hiei', made a grunting noise, throwing his useless contorted sword to the feet of the girl, who was using the wall as support to stand. "You know this guy?" She nudged the scrap metal with her foot.

"She did that." The boy in black stated, shooting Zamba a glare. "I did?" She gingerly picked up the sword. "I remember pushing on it and feeling it give, but I just thought I was pushing it away. How did I bend it?"

Kurama and Hiei looked at each other, then the taller boy dug around in his pocket and pulled out something that resembled a compact. He flipped it open and began talking into it. "Botan, I think we found her."

"Her?" Zamba questioned, turning her head from her brother to the magenta-haired boy. Her question went unanswered as the person Kurama was talking to replied, "Okay, I'll open a portal immediately."

He stowed his communicator compact away in his pocket, going over to Zamba. "Don't worry; we just need you to come with us." He told her, trying to be as soothing as he could.

"So I'm in trouble?" She asked, looking nervous. "I don't understand how I bent it; it looks like a really thick sword." She grasped the curved part of it and tried to bend it back. It remained curled.

A bluish light appeared behind Hiei, causing Hoai and Zamba to look up at the sudden light. Hiei made that same grunting noise and went through, and Kurama took her arm to lead her after. She looked back over her shoulder at her brother as she was dragged through, reluctant to go alone to someplace she didn't know.

Looking around, he prepared to jump through, but got there too late and ended up falling on the floor. (Poor Hoai, lol)

Zamba stumbled out of the portal, nearly loosing her footing as her shoe caught on the carpet, but she quickly regained her balance. She looked around the room, immediately noticing Kurama to her right and Hiei to her left. A large desk with stacks of papers on top of it rested in front of her.

The stacks obscured the view of whoever was sitting behind the desk, but she heard sounds of papers rustling and something stamping on the wood. Kurama cleared his throat, obviously trying to gain the attention of whoever was sitting at the desk. The sounds stopped, then a few stacks of papers were pushed aside, revealing-A baby?

But Zamba recognized this baby. She remembered him from the clip of the show she had seen. Wasn't his name Koe something?

"Kurama? Hiei? Who's this? Why did you bring her here?" The baby asked the binky in his mouth moving as he spoke. When Zamba didn't reply herself, Kurama began, "This is Zamba," The bottle-green eyed boy nudged her forward. "We think she's the one we've been trying to find." The girl looked back at him, her expression confused. "Huh?"

"What's with her sword?" The baby asked, motioning to the twisted sword that was still in her grasp. She looked down at it and promptly dropped it like it burned her. "It was mine, she did that to it." Hiei grumbled, scowling at the girl's back.

"Oh?" The infant turned to examine the girl closer. Silence reigned for a few minutes; then Zamba, feeling uncomfortable, spoke up. "I don't understand how I did it, I just pushed on it; I didn't know it would bend!"

"You don't know what you are, do you." The baby stated, coming out from around the desk. Zamba watched him uncertainly. "You, Zamba, are a Metal Nymph. You don't see those very often anymore." The infant paused, watching her face. "Metal Nymphs can bend metal objects, change the strength of particular metal, and even change one metal to another."

Zamba cocked her head to the side. "Huh? You mean like lead into gold, that kind of thing?"

"No, that's an alchemist, don't get the two confused. I mean like Copper into Iron. You can take a metal and change it into something completely different. But right now, it seems as though you can only use your powers when scared," He shot Hiei a look, "As a last resort type of thing. You're powers are unique, and if you obtained a better grasp on them, you could someday be formidable." The baby nudged the sword with his foot. "And so, this is why I've decided to offer you a job as one of my spirit detectives."

Zamba remained silent, thinking as she stared down at the baby. So this was Kurama and Yusuke's 'job'? And she was being offered the same thing. "What if I said no?" The girl asked, curious.

"Then we'd have you put in jail."

"Oh. Good answer." She mumbled, wondering who would take care of Hoai if she was in jail. "I don't really understand, I'd be put in jail because I refused to help you; of what I _might _become?"

The baby nodded. "Yes."

". . .Right. And you can do this how? Who will listen to an infant?" She asked, ignoring the feeling of Kurama and Hiei's appalled stares.

"You don't know who I am?" He asked in a deadly calm voice. Zamba shook her head. "I am Prince Koenma Jr. of the spirit world. I have say over nearly everything."

"Oh. I didn't know." She shrugged. "Sorry." She felt retarded, and slowly began to blush from embarrassment. How was she to know that she was talking to someone with more prestige than her? Especially when he looked like a baby! "Sorry," She murmured again, still feeling the glares of the two boys.

"So you are refusing?" Koenma asked, turning so his back to her. "I didn't say that!" She replied quickly, feeling harried as she scrambled for an excuse. "I just wanted to know the conditions and stuff…" She felt reluctant, sensing that this was a lose-lose situation. "You are accepting, then?" The prince asked, turning back to her. She nodded slowly.

"Perfect!" Koenma looked positively overjoyed, which unnerved the girl. What had she just agreed to?


	5. Meetings

I'm kind stuck on this chapter….

Well, here goes. . .

Chapter Four

Meetings

Zamba, Kurama, and Hiei all returned to Kurama's house. Zamba sat down as soon as carpet touched her feet. She looked tired. "Are you okay?" her brother asked, running into the room when he heard them return. The black girl nodded mutely, staring off into space. Hoai waved a hand in front of her face, and looked worried when this action caused no response. He looked up at Kurama. "What'd you do to her?"

"Hoai," she said, causing him to look over at her, "I'll tell you later, okay?" She got up and stumbled to her room, closing the door behind her.

He looked after her curiously, the turned back on Kurama and Hiei. "What's wrong with her? Is she sick? She looks sick…What happened?" The tall magenta-haired boy sighed. "Your sister will tell you herself, it's not my place to tell you." Hoai began to pout. "But I can tell you one thing, she has a job now."

Zamba laid down in her bed, wanting to sleep and not have to worry about how her powers would affect her life now. She slowly closed her eyes and slept dreamlessly.

She awoke the next morning to the sun shining through the window. Sitting up, she looked to the awaiting stack of applications. What was she going to do with them now?

She took them and wandered down the hallway, stopping in the kitchen to find Kurama, who was making something. "Hey, what do I do with these now?"

The teen looked over his shoulder at her, and then turned around. "Well, you could turn them in if you want."

"So I bet we don't get paid, huh?" Zamba sighed, staring down at the stack. "What do we do, anyway? What did I agree to?" She lifted herself up onto the counter, setting her papers in her lap. "What_ is _a spirit detective?"

"We investigate different things, sometimes retrieve stolen items or hunt down dangerous people," Kurama explained to her as he turned back to his cooking. "Things like that."

"So, we're more like police than detectives," she observed, picking at her fingernails as she voiced this.

Kurama considered this for a bit, and then said, "Yeah. I guess we are."

"Huh," sighed Zamba, and she sat watching him cook for a little while longer, then left the room to go find her sibling. "Hoai," she called, poking her head through the door. The lump that was her brother underneath the sheets muttered some gibberish as he rolled over. Zamba grinned deviously, crept over to her brother's bedside as quietly as she could, and leaned over to that she was close to his ear. "Wake up!" she yelled, ripping the covers back as she jerked away from him.

Hoai leapt to his feet, standing on his bed in a karate attack position like they show on movies. Zamba burst out laughing at the look on his face. Her brother glared down and lightly shoved her. "What was that for?" he demanded, looking angry. His olive-eyed sister continued to cackle as he plopped back down on his bed.

"It was supposed to wake you up. And scare you. Did it work?" She asked with a grin. He gave her a half-hearted glare as he reached for his discarded socks. "Well, you're awake now, so come with me."

Hoai made a face at her back as she left the room. "Stupid sister," he grumbled, pouting. "I heard that!" Zamba hollered from down the hall. He stuck her tongue out in her general direction, pouting slightly.

"What a lovely wake up call," Kurama teased as the girl reentered the room. "I thought so," she replied, pulling a bowl out from the cabinets the plates had come from the other day. "Cereal?" she asked gesturing to the item she had just pulled out. Kurama motioned to a cabinet, and the girl went to retrieve the food. They stayed in the kitchen as they ate.

Eventually Hoai joined them with his own bowl. They all finished and then sat in the kitchen. "Kurama, will you take me and Hoai around to drop off my applications?" The girl asked after the silence in the room had stretched on for some time.

"Yeah." The magenta-haired teen replied, grabbing up the keys to the house. After a lot of walking, waiting to give the applications to managers, and talking on Zamba's part, all the applications were passed out. Hoai, who had been forced to carry them, gave a cheer.

"Hey, Kurama!" a voice Zamba didn't recognize called from the crowd. Kurama turned to look for the source. It was a tall, kinda homely, orange-haired boy in blue. He, along with three other boys, was leaning against the outside of the shop they had just walked out of. "Hello Kuwabara," the magenta-haired boy greeted, looking surprised.

"Hey, do you know the girl Koenma had join our group? Uh, what's-her-name, Zamba?" Kurama glanced at the girl in question, who perked up at the utterance of her name. "Yeah," he replied. Kuwabara looked excited. "Is she pretty? What's she like?"

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Kuwabara then noticed the olive- eyed girl standing patiently next to his teammate.

"Hey, who's this?" Kuwabara asked, inspecting the dark skinned teenager. She gave him a funny look. "_I'm_ Zamba."

The horse-faced boy instantly reddened and shut his mouth, looking thoroughly embarrassed. "So you're one of my teammates?"

The boy nodded as the redness faded. "Yup. I'm Kazuma Kuwabara. Where you from?"

Zamba hesitated, not sure what to tell him. "Err; I'm from around here. . ."

"You're staying at Kurama's house, right?" the tall boy asked. Zamba nodded. "Can't wait to see what you can do. Well, I gotta go, see ya'." And then he went back to his friends.

"That was kinda odd," Zamba murmured, staring after him. Hoai then decided to voice his boredom. "Let's do something!"

"What do you want to do?"

"Can we go to Yusuke's House?" The grey-eyed boy asked, looking between his sister and Kurama for approval. Zamba shrugged and looked to Kurama, who nodded. The magenta-haired teen led the way, with the two siblings trailing behind.

"What happened to that one scary short guy that attacked me?" The olive-green eyed girl asked curiously, to which Kurama replied with a shrug. "Why did he attack her in the first place?" Hoai questioned, looking around at the people and places around them.

"He doesn't usually attack people without reason, right?" Zamba asked, "It was probably because I was a strange girl in Kurama's room." Hoai began laughing and she reddened. "That came out wrong, I mean…" He continued to laugh. She replied by shoving him into a light post as they passed by. "Hey!"

Kurama laughed silently, keeping ahead of the sibling spat. They soon reached the apartment where Yusuke and his mom lived. Kurama knocked on the door, and Yusuke answered. "Whadda want?" He snarled before realizing who it was. "Oh, hey Kurama."

"Hi Yusuke!" Chirped Hoai, peeking out from behind Kurama. "Hey, it's the little guy!" Yusuke laughed as Hoai pulled a face at being called little. Zamba smiled at the exchange. "So, was there something you wanted?" The black-haired teen asked, leaning on the doorway. "Just visiting," Zamba replied, "seems as though you've made an impression on him."

"I tend to have that effect on kids." He said with a laugh. "Who's this?" A female voice asked from behind Yusuke. He turned to reveal a short-haired, brown eyed, brunette girl dressed in a blue school uniform. The two girls stared at each other from behind the two boys they stood behind, studying each other. Kurama and Yusuke sweat dropped nervously, each attempting to sidle out of the line of fire. Kurama escaped first, leaving Zamba exposed to this new girl's scrutiny. Yusuke soon joined him, and the two girls stepped up to each other, frowning at the other. They boys all froze, sensing a probable fight. Suddenly Zamba grinned and offered her hand. "Hiya, I'm Zamba Nessrhor." The girl mimicked the actions, introducing herself. "I'm Keiko Yukimura." They shook hands, and the boys sighed with relief.

Later, as Hoai and Yusuke were distracted by a video game, with Kurama busily watching them, Keiko and Zamba were sitting outside chatting. "So, are you Kurama's girlfriend?" Keiko asked, and Zamba laughed heartily. "No, too pretty for my tastes, I'd feel like I was dating a girl." Then the olive-eyed girl paused. "Why?" The brunette smiled. "Because he deserves one."

"Well, he's a nice guy, but I think of him as just a friend, that's pretty much it. I've only known him for a couple days, anyway." Zamba replied after some thought. "I don't like to rush things." She then grew silent as she began to brood.

'Should I really be so hesitant…? Stupid Matt…' She frowned deeply as snippets of old memories rose to the surface of her mind. She drowned them out as she turned to Keiko and started a new conversation.

The two girls later returned to the boys, who were now watching cartoons. They joined them for a short while, and then Kurama got up. "It's getting late and I didn't leave my mother a note." Zamba and Hoai nodded and stood. "Bye Yusuke!" Chimed Hoai as Zamba said to the other girl, "It was nice meeting you, Keiko," she went over to her brother and Kurama. "See you two later!"

And so they left the Urameshi's apartment, walking down the sidewalk. "Hey, Kurama, who else is a spirit detective?" The girl asked, walking faster to get beside him. "Well, Me, Yusuke, Hiei, and Kuwabara. I assume Koenma plans on putting you on our team eventually." The black girl looked shocked. "Just the five of us? Are there any other groups?" Kurama looked surprised, like he had never thought of that before. "I don't really know… I assume not."

"That's kinda funny, so that means everything gets left to us, huh?" Kurama nodded slowly. They were silent the whole way back. Once they entered Kurama's house, his mother rushed to the door, scolding poor Shuichi worriedly. "It's my fault Mrs. Minamino, I drug him to Yusuke's house." Zamba explained once the older woman broke for breath. "We weren't watching the clock closely enough." Shuichi's mother looked like she believed the black girl's story. "Well, at least leave me a note next time," and with that said, Mrs. Minamino turned on her heel and returned to her room.

Shuichi gave her a grateful look. "Thanks." Zamba smiled, then realized something. "Uh, where's the guest bathroom?" Shuichi pointed, and the girl raced in. "I stink, I stink!" She sang as she stripped and showered. "I don't stink, I don't stink!" She declared happily as she pulled on her dirty clothes. "My clothes stink, but I don't!" She pulled the door open to Hoai giving her a 'what-the-crap?' look.

She stuck her tongue out at him as she passed, wandering into her room and collapsing onto her bed. She fell asleep quickly.

As she slept, she tossed and turned wildly, mumbling incoherently and sounding quite upset. The next morning she woke up feeling like she hadn't slept at all. Grumpily she got up and went to her window, staring out it moodily. But as she stood, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She looked over her shoulder and saw no one. She shivered and returned to her bed for comfort.

(A/n: Ah, that was a kinda rough chapter, it feels good to get it over with. Sorry it took so long to get out. :p )


	6. Income

(A/n: Thank you Shadow-Ninja-Fay, RedRoseInADarkAlley, and Thunder Ring for reviewing, and everyone else for reading:) Sorry about the wait!)

Chapter five,

Income

Zamba got up again a short while later, removing herself from her cocoon of blankets. She wandered into the bathroom, and glanced into the mirror, then laughed at how she looked. Her hair stuck out at odd angles, and she looked quite disheveled.

After preening herself, she emerged from the bathroom looking more presentable. She headed downstairs to find Hoai and Mrs. Minamino eating breakfast. She gave them a sleepy greeting and went to the kitchen to forage in the cupboards for food. As she sat down, the older woman turned to her and said, "You've been wearing these clothes for days, you want me to wash them? You can borrow some of Shuichi's old clothes." Hoai seemed to be already wearing a pair.

"…Thank you." Zamba replied, standing up to follow Shuichi's mother. They went up into the attic of the house, and the long-haired woman pulled over a previously opened box of clothes. She rummaged around for a few minutes, and then pulled out a set for the girl, who took them gratefully. "Thank you, Mrs. Minamino." The dark-skinned girl headed for the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She came out later, bearing the slightly smelly, worse-for-wear clothes. Shuichi's mother took them, and Zamba rejoined her brother at the table.

After an afternoon of helping around the house, Kurama came home. "I was wondering where you went." Zamba greeted, waving at him. The green-eyed boy smiled; he looked tired again. He headed for his room, and looked like he wasn't planning on reemerging for awhile.

After finishing the things Mrs. Minamino assigned her to do, and after making sure that there wasn't anything more she could do, she dug around for some paper and a pencil. She took them to her room and sat down on her bed-mat. It still felt weird to sleep so close to the ground, but she was getting over it. She began recording the approximate costs of every meal they had had so far, along with what she thought was a reasonable rent for room and board. She sighed at the amount, but resolved to pay it back.

When she was through, she flopped backwards into the mattress and scrutinized the ceiling. She slowly lost herself in thought. 'Now what? Okay, so I have weird powers I didn't have before we came here. Whatever, cool beans, but did anything happen to Hoai? Did he get any unnatural powers?' She suddenly had a mental picture of herself and her brother dressed up in superhero outfits, fighting crime and saying really stupid catch phrases. She giggled to herself, pushing the picture away. 'But seriously, what if his powers were really dangerous? Like some kind of degenerative power? What if that was the way hers were?' She began to worry. 'Who'd I ask to find out? What if no one knew and she ended up dying?' Her stomach began to twist uncomfortably.

The sound of a knock on the door causes her to jump out of her revere and jerk her head to door. It was just Hoai. "Zamba?" He asked tentatively, looking curious. She motioned him in, sitting up and leaning on the wall behind her. "How'd you bend that guy's sword?" His sister shrugged, looking frustrated. "Your guess is as good as mine. I don't really understand it either."

"What happened when Kurama and that one guy took you to where ever it was that they took you?" Hoai sat down on the floor nearby. "They took me to their boss. And they said that I had 'powers' or something. It was weird."

But Hoai looked jealous. "You know, whatever affected me most likely affected you." Zamba told him, and instantly Hoai's healthy imagination kicked in. "So I might have powers too?" He looked quite like an eager puppy. "Do you think mine will be like yours? Or maybe I'll have powers like Yusuke!" He made a gun-shape with his hand, pretending to fire it. "Rei Gun!" He exclaimed, and then he ran out of the room.

Zamba gave the door a quizzical look. "What's a Ray gun?"

A half an hour or so later, the olive green-eyed girl meandered downstairs. Hoai was outside yelling "Rei Gun!" and pointing his 'gun hand' at the trees. His sister watched with an amused smirk for awhile, and then pulled open the door, stepping outside into the sun. She instantly smiled gratefully at the whitish orb in the sky, and sat down in the grass. Hoai ran over and jumped in the way of the sun, so he cast a shadow over her. He pointed the 'gun' at her. He pretended to fire, and she went along with it, falling over dramatically and sticking her tongue out. He laughed, and she jumped up, pretending to snarl.

"Ah, you got me good that time, but let's see if you can do it again!" Hoai began to run, shrieking with laughter; which caused Zamba to laugh, because his voice was changing and it sounded squeaky. She ran after him, causing a chase-game that transformed into tag.

When they got tired, they flopped down on the grass, laughing and gasping. Kurama came out and stood over them, an eyebrow raised. Zamba flopped a hand onto his shoe, and laughed. "Tag, you're it!"

To which he replied, "Dinner's ready." They all went inside and ate, and Zamba added the expense to her list. Eventually everyone went to bed

The next day started out like usual. She rolled out of bed, sleepy and bleary-eyed, stumbled into the bathroom, did her normal morning ritual, Changed back into her old clothed so her new one's could be washed, and stumbled downstairs.

Halfway through her cereal, the phone rang. Kurama answered it, and then turned to her, mouthing, 'it's for you.' He set it down and watched her expectantly. She gave him a curious look as she picked it up. It was on of the places that she had turned in one of her applications. They wanted her to start immediately. She happily accepted the offer.

"Who was it?" Hoai asked from the table, watching his sister. "It was one of the restaurants, Kramer's; they wanted me to start as soon as possible!" She replied excitedly, bouncing from one foot to the other and clapping.

"When do you start?" Kurama asked, smiling slightly. "Tomorrow! And I have no idea were it is!" The sepia-haired girl laughed her happiness and relief undaunted by that fact. She finally had a job! And from what she remembered, the place was really nice, a pretty high-class place. She bounced around the room joyfully, pulling open cabinets in search of the cake mix she had found a few days ago.

"Can I make this?" she asked Kurama, giving him a pleading look. He consented, and she tore into the box. She collected all of the ingredients quickly, and began furiously mixing them together. Kurama sweat-dropped and sidled out of the room. She had a cake within the hour, and it didn't taste half-bad, considering she didn't follow the directions at all. She added this expense to her growing dept list, but this time it was worth it. Mrs. Minamino was surprise and pleased, she was use to doing all of the cooking and such.

They all split and shared the cake after dinner that night. They watched a movie and played a few card games before heading off to bed. Zamba dreamt happily that night, content with the way things were improving. Or maybe it was just all that cake. Who knows?

(A/n: I would have had this up sooner, but Fan Fiction was being weird.)


	7. Nightmare

(A/n: Thank you ThunderRing, RedRoseInADarkAlley, and animegirl95 for reviewing, and everyone else for reading! I know it's taking a while to get to the romance and stuff, and trust me; it's still going to take a while.

I want keep the situations, and the way I portray the characters, as believable as possible. No one really falls in love that quickly, Lol.

I've had a few questions from people who don't know what the pairing is, I don't really want to give it away, I'm sorry. But I'll give you a hint. The pairing is in the title. The metal part refers to Zamba. . .)

Chapter 7

Nightmare

Zamba jolted awake, her eyes wide with fright. She threw off her sheets, leaving them behind in a tangled mess, and fumbled for the light switch. When the lights flickered on, her olive-colored eyes darted around the room, and landed on the closet; the door was slightly ajar.

Slowly she crept to the door and jerked it open with a grunt, pulling back her fist as though to punch something. There was nothing there, nothing at all. Letting out her held breath, she shut the door and leaned on it. Her eyes went to the window, as they always seem to.

But this time, something was staring back. Zamba gasped and pulled away from the door, attempting to get as far away from the window as possible and nearly tripping herself in doing so. The sight outside was grotesque, a hulking figure, that resembled that of a spider, blocked out the sight of anything else. It's glowing; eight purple eyes glinted maliciously from the light of her room. It pulled back one of its many legs, and drove it through the window, causing it to shatter on impact. The black girl almost sprung for the door, then realized that doing so might cause this giant Arachnid to attack Hoai, or Kurama. Instead, she locked the door.

She stared as the spider heaved itself through the opening it had created. Glass was cutting into its sides, but it didn't seem to care. Blood poured out of the wounds, and onto the floor, where it pooled.

Feeling slightly green, she wondered what to do. Besides the shattering of the glass, and the soft hissing of the spider, there were no sounds to wake anyone up. Her only way out of the room was the door, it was best not to go that way, lest she endanger someone.

That left the window.

The enormous spider was more than halfway through. Watching it with increasing distaste, she waited. The door handle jiggled behind her, causing her to jump. Kurama's voice quietly inquired, "Is everything okay in there?"

"Yeah!" Zamba replied after a bit, still looking a little green. The arachnid finally heaved itself the rest of the way through, and the dark-haired girl lunged underneath it as it tried to get its bearings. Extremely scared and grossed out, she leaped out the window, covered in guts and blood. Landing hard, she nearly howled in pain, she had landed awkwardly and hurt herself. 'It looked so simple in the movies. . .' She thought to herself as she grasped her ankle in pain and was forced to stay put.

The spider made a very loud, harsh, hissing noise, and almost turned to go back through, but it quickly formed an idea, and shot webbing at the immobile target.

It slithered around her body like it was born of a snake, and not a spider. She tried to pull away, fight, struggle,_ do_ anything, but the coils rendered all attempts useless. The spider rubbed its pedipalps together as it hissed in approval.

Zamba rested her chin on the earth, and sighed in annoyance. What a way to die, being eaten like an insect by a spider. She shuddered, attempting to shove this mental thought from her mind. Something black flashed up ahead of her, just barely distinguishable in the pale light of the moon. Another monster?

The spider seemed to finally make up its mind, and started to wriggle out of its room. Faintly, Zamba could hear Kurama attempting to twist the doorknob. 'Well, at least I tried,' She thought to herself, beginning to accept her fate.

The spider pulled itself out more quickly, and jumped to the ground. A faint sound caught the olive-colored eyed girl's attention, and she attempted to move her head to hear better. There was a hiss that turned high-pitched, then suddenly cut off. It took her a few minutes to understand it was coming from the spider. Then there was a soft 'Hn,' noise.

Zamba sat up, looking around confusedly. She was back in her room, in bed. She had just woken up, apparently. 'That…Was weird.' She looked around her room, paranoid. No spiders anywhere. She shuttered, it had felt like it had actually happened. But the window was just fine, and her closet door was closed. There was no corpse outside in the backyard. She shuttered again, and then turned from the window just as something black streaked across it. But she did notice the momentary absence of light. She whipped herself back around, but saw nothing, as usual.

A few days later, she forgot about the dream, seeing as she now had a job that took up all her time. She had made a few friends, none of them really all that close. She enjoyed her job as a waitress, and was very good at it. Things were looking up for both Hoai and Zamba.

One day, while walking home from work, she stumbled across an abandoned box of metal. It looked like scrap, because it was sitting next to a recycle bin. So she picked it up, and looked around. No one protested, so she took it back to Kurama's house.

"I'm home!" She announced to the household. Hoai vaguely waved at her, and Mrs. Shuichi just greeted her from the kitchen.

Zamba went up to her room, and after depositing her new trinkets near her mat, she pulled her dept book out. She flipped to a new pace, and calculated her earnings. Once she was finished, she smiled joyfully, because since the restaurant was so fancy, she had a pretty decent wage.

Comparing it to the costs she had written down, it looked as though she'd be able to pay off her depts sooner than anticipated.

She sighed happily. It wasn't like she didn't like living her with Kurama and his mother, but she couldn't help but feel like she and her bother were freeloading.

She daydreamed for awhile, thinking about her home, whether or not their father had noticed they were gone, about her friends, and if they missed her. Probably not, they were all backstabbers, and she had been one, too. But it was different here.

She felt proud of herself, of her job, and the life she was slowly sculpting for herself. She smiled softly, then reached out and pulled the box of scrap metal over to herself. She pulled out a random piece, and stared at it.

Nothing happened. What did she have to do? She thought hard, trying to remember just what she was thinking when Hiei attacked her. She placed her hand on the thick sheet of metal, and pushed on it softly. It didn't do much. She pressed harder, like when she was trying to get away. It shivered slightly. This sparked a determination in her, and she pressed harder. It shuttered, and then gave; it bent easily, like a wet noodle. (Lol, did I just type that?) She watched in amazement as her hands easily pushed the sides of the thick sheet upwards, forming a blocky "U".

Excitement bubbled up in her, and she leapt to her feet, off in search of her sibling. But came across Kurama first, who was just leaving his room. "Look, look!" She prodded excitedly, waving the object in his face. His face nodded up and down with her movements, trying to focus on it.

Finally, he took if from her. "I did that." She explained, explaining about how she had found a box of scrap metal outside a metal working shop. Kurama smiled for her, realizing how she thought that this was a big step. She returned the smile, took the metal "U", and went back to her room, were she stayed all day, reforming the metal. At the end of the day, she showed her end product to her brother and best friend. It was only a plain, square, metal box with a plain, square lid, but her pride at making something herself was enough to make it seem like something fantastic.

(A/n: So now we finally have something here! No Romance yet, but hopefully you cane bare that for a little while longer, right? I mean, they aren't even friends yet…)


	8. Stay

(Thank you Thunder Ring, Ventana, RedRoseInADarkAlley, and ChishioShakun for reviewing; and everyone else for reading this far, lol.

I decided I didn't like this chapter when I first wrote it, so I deleted it and tried again.

So, does anyone know what the pairing is? )

Chapter Eight

Stay

Zamba exited the darkly lit restaurant, untying her smock as the door closed behind her. Her shift was over for the day, and she looked happy to be outside. Or maybe it was just because she had gotten her paycheck today…

The olive-eyed girl pulled the slip of paper out, studying it with a sense of accomplishment. She had made nearly sixty dollars; and that wasn't including tips. She replaced the check in her pocket, making sure that it wouldn't fall out or get stolen.

She got home quickly, despite the crowds, and went off to find her brother. She found him in his room, reading. "Hoai?"

He placed a bookmark in his book, closed it, and looked up. "What?"

She pulled out her bookmark with a flourish, crossing the room to hand it to him. He took it, looking confused. He looked at it, then back up at her. "It's not my birthday. . ." He told her, glancing up at his older sister questioningly.

The female laughed. "I know, it's my paycheck."

Hoai's light brown eyes went back to the slip of paper. They skimmed over the meaningless numbers until he reached the amount received at the bottom. "Wow," he said, handing it back to her, "That's a lot of money."

Zamba grinned, pulling out the wad of cash from her other pocket. "And that's not all." She boasted, allowing Hoai to remove the rubber band and count the money. They had just under the amount they needed to pay Kurama and his mother back.

"We can start looking for an apartment soon!" She explained excitedly, but Hoai looked kind of sad. "Why do we have to? We could just live here. . ."

"But don't you feel like you need to pay them back?" Zamba argued in a soft tone.

"You could just give your money from your job to pay them back, like rent, and we could live here." Hoai replied. Seemed he had given this subject much thought.

Zamba considered this for a bit, and then shot, "But we might overstay our welcome, Hoai. It'd be rude."

To which Hoai fired back, "But since we'd be paying rent, it wouldn't be!"

"Well, it depends, it's up to my mother," Interrupted a voice from the door. "I wouldn't mind having you guys living with us." The siblings both turned to look at Kurama, who was leaning against the door fame.

Outnumbered, Zamba dropped the subject. She made a face at the magenta-haired boy. "Hello to you, too," He said with a laugh.

"You're back early. Easy job?" The dark-skinned girl asked, rubber-banding the wad of cash back up.

"Actually, yes." He replied, stretching a little bit. "It wasn't too bad, excluding all the destruction we caused."

"Nice." Zamba replied. "What'd you guys do this time?"

"Yusuke misfired, causing the complex we were fighting in to collapse. We got out fast enough, but the demons we were fighting against were crushed." The three of them sat in silence a few minutes longer. "So, you guys are going to stay here, correct?"

"Oh!" Zamba reached for the check, and handed him the cash-wad and paycheck. "There's this month's rent." She told him forcefully, giving him no room for argument. Kurama finally nodded, pocketing the cash. "I guess that's a yes then," Hoai said, answering Kurama's question, "as long as it's okay with your mom."

Kurama nodded and walked out of the room, off to find his mom.

Zamba left Hoai to his book, and went to her room. She stared out the window, thinking of nothing in particular, when she noticed him. He was sitting on the brick wall behind the house. The boy in black; the one with the red eyes. What was his name again? "Hiei?" She mumbled aloud, watching the demon curiously. He wasn't doing anything in particular, really, just sitting.

Suddenly he looked up and they locked eyes. Startled, Zamba jerked away from the window, blushing slightly. She felt the blood rushing through her cheeks, and wondered why she was blushing. Embarrassed, she hid her face in her hands.

After the blush went down, she looked back out. To her disappointment, he was gone. Sitting down on the floor underneath the window, she pondered her reactions. 'Why'd I blush? Why was I embarrassed? Why didn't I just stare back?' Another blush crept up on her. And so she sat, her face in her hands, pondering her emotions. 'What's my problem?'

A while later, after confirming that it was, indeed, okay with Mrs. Minamino for them to stay, Zamba found herself carefully avoiding looking out the windows. 'You're such a wimp.' Zamba told herself.

"Zamba, are you okay?" Kurama asked at dinner, eyeing her carefully. When she didn't reply, he shook her arm lightly. "Zamba."

She looked up from playing with her food, emitting a "Huh?"

Kurama gave her a worried look, and repeated, "Are you okay? You've been distracted all day."

"Have you reconsidered staying with us?" Mrs. Minamino asked, giving her an equally concerned look. Zamba looked at the faces around her. She smiled weakly and forced a laugh. "No, just preoccupied."

The rest of the dinner went by without much more said from Zamba. As she was preparing for bed, Hoai knocked on the door and waited for her to spit out her toothpaste. "Did I do something?" He asked.

Zamba smiled lightly, and replied, "No."

"Did Kurama do something?"

"No."

"Do you like Kurama?" Hoai asked, looking like he had it all figured out. "As a friend, not the way you're thinking," She replied, "So, no."

"Oh." Hoai uttered, sounding disappointed. Zamba gave him a funny look over her shoulder, then went into her room, off to bed.

(A/n: Well, there you have it. Pop it in the microwave, heat for two minutes, and enjoy! That was random…)


	9. Empathy

(A/n: Thank you ChishioShakun and Thunder Ring for reviewing; and everyone else for reading this far, ha ha! Sorry for, what, an 8 month delay? I was really lazy, lol. Here's a long chapter to make up for it? Dodges bricks )

Chapter nine

Empathy

Zamba awoke the next morning to Hoai shaking her awake. "Kurama says it's time to get up." The female grunted, rolled over, and promptly fell back asleep. Her brother sighed heavily, and shoved her roughly, causing her to roll off her mat and onto the wooden floor.

"Ow!" She hissed, throwing off her sheets and rising to her feet, angrily bearing down upon her sibling. "Out. Now." She ordered, and violently pointed to the door. Hoai scurried out as fast as he could, retreating to the safety of the kitchen a floor below. Zamba sighed, replacing the sheets on her mattress. After making her bed, she left for the bathroom, where she took a quick shower and got ready for the day.

She stepped out, wearing a newer pair of Kurama's old clothes. Zamba then went downstairs to join Kurama's mother and her brother in the kitchen. "Morning." She greeted, waving at the two of them.

The day drug on without much notable excitement. Zamba and Hoai helped around the house, ran about outside, and talked. As it neared the end of the day, the siblings drifted back outside, where they sat, watching the clouds and the sun sink into the horizon.

"I like cloud watching." Hoai said, allowing himself to fall backwards into the grass. Zamba looked back at him and laughed, replying, "I do too." Soon the two of them were joined by Kurama, who finally wasn't tired after his job. "Hey!" Zamba greeted with a smile, "Long time no see."

Hoai looked curiously between the two of them, and Zamba gave him a suspicious look. She made a note to herself to ask Hoai why he asked that question the other day.

Kurama sunk into the grass beside Zamba, sighing. "You know, I could never imagine coming home to a completely empty house." Hoai stated, causing both Kurama and Zamba to look over at the tan-skinned boy.

"Where'd that come from?" His sibling laughed.

"Well," Hoai began, sitting up. "I thought about Kurama having his job, then about other people, then about divorced or single people, and about how lonely those people must be." He finished, laying back down and staring up at the sky.

"I-guess that makes sense," Zamba replied, going back to watching the clouds also.

Kurama nodded, and sat back, watching the siblings more than the sky.

Later, once the sun set and the sky darkened, the trio returned to the safety of the house. They ate dinner and each eventually went to their separate rooms to get some sleep.

But Zamba lay awake on her mattress, wondering if she was progressing fast enough with her powers. She found herself apprehensive, but curious about her other job, the one she hadn't exactly been accepted into yet. She wondered if she could be strong enough for them to rely on, and hoped she wouldn't be the third wheel, the weakest link, the stupid whiny girl that everyone had to protect.

She felt a spark of determination flare up within herself, and after awhile, frowned, because she was keeping herself awake thinking of these things with excited anticipation. Slowly, she calmed herself down and began fell asleep, dreaming of ghoulish monsters and difficult escapades.

A couple hours later, a tapping noise roused the girl, and she slowly sat up. She felt her want for sleep slipping away as she looked around the room, confused. The tapping noise had stopped when she had sat up. Convincing herself that it must have been a part of a dream, or something she had imagined, she slowly lay back down and tried to force herself to fall back asleep. After a minute or so, she heard the tapping noise again, this time more urgent. She sat up again and listened carefully. It was coming from the window-side of her room. She wobbled to her feet and listened again.

This time, she saw the windowpane rattle violently, the tapping noise sounding more frantic. Curiously and cautiously, she went to the window to look out. There was nothing there. Slowly, she slid her window open, allowing a slight breeze to brush past her and into the room. Zamba then stuck her head out the window to look around. It occurred to her that it probably was not such a good idea to do so, but by then it was too late.

Something yanked her violently out the window, and she inhaled sharply, as if to scream. She began to flail, her eyes wide with terror as she stared at the ground. This also was not a bright thing to do, seeing as whatever or whoever it was that was holding her up would drop her if it lost grip, but it was all she could think of doing, seeing as she could possibly fall two stories. . .

The force keeping her up released her, forcefully slamming her on the ground. Her head hit the ground hard, and with a blinding flash of pain, was knocked out cold. Back in the house, Kurama rolled over in his sleep, her brother mumbled something inaudible, but no one stirred.

The metal nymph awoke to a freezing room after an eternity of a time. Her head throbbed; it felt like her skull was being cleaved in two. She sniffled pitifully, shivering. It felt like she was lying of a slab of ice. She brought her hands up to her head, surprised to find it swaddled in gauze and wrap. Slowly she attempted to open her eyes, but stopped because of the blinding pain the lighting of the room caused.

"You awake?" Zamba jumped, her eyes snapped open and she forced herself to squint through the glare. Her head pulsated sharply, but she ignored it, her olive-green eyes landing in a figure across the room from her. She studied the figure, he had red hair, with a horn sticking out amongst the mane. His clothes consisted of an odd sash-like garment, and baggy pants, along with bandages on his forearms and around his shins. Large pointed ears stuck out a bit at the sides, and a tooth peeped out from underneath his top lip. His eyes were blue, and held a slight mischief, though at the moment they looked a bit concerned.

Seeing that he meant no harm, she looked about the room, and was surprised to discover that the walls were smoothed over with ice. She was curled up upon a large slab of ice, thus explaining her discomfort and the reason as to why she was so numb with the cold. "Where are we?" she inquired, sitting up slowly so that her head wouldn't spin. She grasped her head as she waited for a response.

"I don't really know." The boy answered, looking about the room himself. He seemed to have a mild Irish accent. "Are you okay?" He asked, returning his gaze to her. "You've been out for a few days."

"I'd be better if I wasn't here, it's so cold." She replied, standing, going to the nearest wall, and lightly pressing her forehead to it. "Though this ice is nice; I have a headache." Zamba paused. "So, what is this, a prison cell?" She had noticed the bars incased in the ice on one side of the room.

The boy nodded grimly, though the girl couldn't see it from her angle. "It seems so." The girl nodded slowly in understanding. "I have an inkling as to why I'm here, why are you?" The boy smiled slightly, out of a little embarrassment and pride. "I attacked one of the sentinels; he was attacking one of my friends. My friend escaped, but I got caught." The red-head laughed a bit. "I'm Jin the Wind Master, by the way, but just call me Jin."

Zamba smiled faintly. "I'm Zamba Nessrhor, a metal nymph." Jin cocked his head slightly. "A metal nymph? There aren't very many of those around anymore. And most of them are specialists. Have you specialized yet?" The black girl looked over at him, pressing the side of her head on the ice now. "No, I just started."

"Oh." Jin replied, faintly sensing that she wasn't from around here. Most metal nymphs specialized when they were very young. "How old are you?" He asked.

"I'm eighteen, six years apart from my half-brother. I graduated early." She replied, elaborating a bit more than she meant to. "We have the same dad."

"How old is your brother?" Jin asked, his suspicion confirmed. "He's twelve, his mom died in childbirth; mine died in a car accident . . . Why am I telling you this?"

The red-head smiled wryly. "You trust me, though you barely know me. Do I remind you of someone?" Zamba stared at him, lost in thought after that question. "Yeah." She replied after awhile, but whom he reminded her of she kept to herself.

"You're not from here, are you. I mean, you're not from the demon world, are you." It wasn't exactly a question, he already knew the answer, and he was just clarifying. "So that's where we are, a prison in the Demon world, huh. No, I'm not from here. I'm from the human word, or whatever." Jin nodded, satisfied.

After a short while, Jin stood and turned to the ice-incased iron bars. Zamba slowly looked over curiously, a bit unwilling to turn sharply. "Planning on escape?" She asked, watching him study the wall. He nodded idly, popping his shoulder. "I'm gonna use a technique of mine on the cell door, if you could, would you huddle behind that slab?"

Zamba obeyed as Jin started to wind his arm around. He drew his fist back after creating a small mini-tornado around his arm, and punched the wall, solidly. A large portion of the ice fell away on both sides, leaving the bars exposed. "Can you bend those?" He asked, turning to Zamba who was peeking over the slab at him. She stood and walked over, inhaling sharply and sighing heavily. She placed her hands on two of the bars, exerting a steady increase of pressure until the metal began to buckle and bend away from her. The first two bars with the ones next to them, and the ones after that, bending three bars in all. Zamba released all of the air she had been holding in a long self-satisfied sigh. Her handiwork had left behind a hole big enough for them to step though and escape.

"Nice." Jin complemented, stepping through. She blushed slightly, berating herself a few seconds afterward for being so easily pleased. She joined him on the opposite side of the cage doors, looking down both sides of the corridor. "Which way do we go?"

"How about this way?" Jin grabbed her hand, leading her down the left side of the corridor. The black girl jolted at the touch, and stared down at their interlocked hands. Slowly she began to flush, attempting to concentrate on making a mental map of where they were going, but failing miserably. He led her down the corridor and into another, the halls creating a maze. Eventually they reached a fork. The two of them stood in the middle, trying to decide which way to go. A shuffling sound echoed from the entrance closest to them. Glancing at each other nervously, they ran, Zamba craning her neck behind her to look at the intersection.

It shuffled out into the light behind them. It was large and grotesque, malformed and twisted. It opened its large mouth to reveal its sharp, gnashing teeth. Zamba made an alarmed noise, being the closest one to it. It shuffled after them, picking up the pace. Jin looked behind to see what the ruckus was about and yelped, stopping for a moment to pull the girl closer and pick her up. She blushed furiously as the red-head took off, flying on down through the corridor. "Don't worry!" He said, attempting to comfort her. She was clinging to him like an old lady in a roller coaster. "You'll be okay!"

'Why am I blushing?' The olive-green eyed girl asked herself as she strained to look over Jin's shoulder. Attempting to will herself to stop, she forced herself to think of other things. As they went along, the halls began to grow brighter and brighter. They seemed to be getting closer to the surface, or at least to an exit. They had passed more of those malformed demons along the way, and currently had two chasing after them. Suddenly (At least from Zamba's point of view) they shot out into sunlight. One of the monsters grunted and chucked its weapon out after them.

As the weapon sliced through the air, it began to rotate, and as it went past them, the hilt turned and collided with Jin's head. He gasped in pain and dropped her. She plummeted, screeching, her back to the ground. Jin dove after her, straining to reach her. Just as she was about to hit the ground, he caught onto her ankle and slowed her decent. She looked up at him, inverted, looking a bit crazy. "Don't you dare drop me again." She hissed, her eyes wide and showing her fear despite the threat. Jin laughed, threw her up into the air, and caught her bridal-style, wincing slightly. She glared sourly at him, not noticing the slightly pained look on his face. Forming a pocket of air behind them to shoot off, he stopped when the girl exclaimed, "Wait!" He hesitated, looking down at her. "Can we take that sword? Would it be too much weight?"

He shook his head, hovering close enough to the ground and setting her down. She went to the weapon the monster had chucked, rather surprised to see fresh blood on it. She hefted it and went to Jin, gently reaching up and pulling on his foot. He settled on the ground. "What?" Silently, she showed him the blood, and pointed at him, then made him turn around. His right shoulder gushed on the backside. "You're bleeding badly, and I don't have anything to wrap it with." She stated, pulling on one of the wrappings on his forearm. "Can I use this?"

Jin obediently unwrapped it and allowed her to wrap his shoulder, but not without winces of pain. They both shivered, if the sword had been just a few inches over. . . "I don't think you should carry me, it'll make it worse." The red-head looked about ready to protest, but said nothing as she began walking away.

"So." He said after a long period of silence and walking, "Where are you going to go now?" Zamba looked back at him. "Home. Well, close enough anyway. Kurama's home."

"Kurama? As in "Shuichi Minamino"? Pink hair, about yay high?" Jin asked, gesturing. Zamba nodded, looking at him suspiciously. "I know him!" Jin declared, looking happy to have something in common with Zamba. "It'll be hard to get back to the human world, though. Demons aren't suppose to go there; there are precious few portals between the two worlds." Jin smiled a little. "In fact, Kurama and the others are the ones that deal with demons that slip though between worlds. Kurama himself is a demon, along with Hiei." Zamba stared at him, the gears in her head slowly working. "I'd believe Hiei's a demon, I don't discredit that, but Kurama? He's so nice, how can he possibly be a demon?"

"Hey, I'm a demon, are you trying to indicate that demon's are aloof and violent?" The redhead replied, looking a bit insulted. "Yes." She replied bluntly. "Yes I am." She watched him to see what he's do. "Well," he said, "the lower class demons are that way, so I catch your drift."

"It's so cold." Zamba commented after another long period of walking. "I hope we can find someplace warm before it gets dark." She rubbed her arms in the hopes that she'd be able to warm a little. She glanced over a Jin, who was floating and seemed to be absolutely fine. Assuming he was using a pocket of warm air to keep himself warm, she eyes him jealously. "Why are you following me? Don't you have anything better to do?"

Jin shrugged, "I don't know, I just did it without thinking. Besides, you might need protection." He teased, hovering a little closer to her and smiling. He liked her. Maybe he'd see if anything would happen between them. She merely gave him a mildly irritated look. "Not even." She replied, throwing him off a bit, for he was thinking of other things.

A shorter distance later, Zamba switched shoulders. "You know Hiei?" Jin looked down, brought out of his musings. "Yeah, what about him?" Zamba hesitated. "Is he just really quiet, or does he not like people? Do you know a lot about him? What's he really like?" She blurted, blushing about halfway though and feeling dumb for doing so. Jin smiled, seeing something she did not. "He's quiet, very powerful, and has a jagan eye. That's all I really know." Zamba looked down at her feet. "Oh." She said, sounding slightly disappointed.

Finally, they reached a hedge of trees, sprawling out into a forest. Deciding to take a break, they leaned up against trees opposite one another. "So why did you inquire about Hiei?" Jin asked, gauging Zamba's reaction. She almost blushed, but fought it down. "Well, I wanted to know more about him. I'll have to learn about my team mates, you know." Jin perked up. "Team mates? You're fighting with them?" Zamba shook her head. "I might be, it depends on how quickly I develop my powers. All I can do at the moment is reshaping metal."

Jin slowly began peeling off the make-shift bandage on his shoulder off. "What're you doing?" Scolded Zamba, attempting to stop him. "Checking it, it should be healed by now." She gave him an incredulous look, but it turned to wonder when the bandage fell away, and it was healed. "How?"

"Demon." Jin cheerily replied, "You want to fly now?" Zamba gazed at him hesitantly, the looked up at the sky. The sun was sinking. Reluctantly, she agreed. Jin wrapped his arms around her, careful of the blade, and lifted her up, the same way he had before. She lowered her face, she was blushing again. Jin took no notice and rose up into the air, judging how fast he could go with her weight and the sword. "Just get us someplace warm," she told him. He nodded, and took off.

By sundown, they had reached a warmer, nearly tropical climate. They landed on a beach. Zamba stretched gratefully once she was back on her feet, yawning slightly. "Thanks, Jin." The boy nodded, plopping down in the warm sand. Zamba imitated him with a laugh, then laid out with a happy grin. The sand was nice and warm, and would stay that way for most of the night. Slowly, Zamba fell asleep.

(A/N Well, tell me what you think. Was it good? I hope so. . .)


	10. Teacher

(A/n: Thank you ChishioShakun, RedRoseInADarkAlley, and The Crimson Darkness for reviewing, and everyone else for reading:)! I was wrong about the numbering on the last chapter, this is chapter nine. Sorry it took forever, I'm a bit unplanned.)

Chapter nine

Teacher

Zamba awoke the next day to the sound of waves rushing onto the shore. She remembered where she was (Or wasn't, really) relatively quickly.

A rush of homesickness swelled within her, she had to get back to prove that her brother and Kurama were alright. Sitting up, she looked around for the Wind Master.

But he was no where in sight.

"Jin?" She called worriedly, looking around again. She listened for any reply. There was absolutely no sign of where he had gone, not even a footprint in the sand. Slight fear crept in amongst worry within her.

Getting to her feet quickly, she swept the sand from her body a little jerkily, and raking her fingers through her hair in an attempt to relieve some of her queasiness. 'He wouldn't have left me behind . . . Would he?' Pulling the sword out of the sand beside her, she hefted it quickly, almost losing her balance as she did so. Looking around her again, she started off down the beach to look for her red-haired friend.

"Jin?" She called, more loudly than the first time, as she moved around a rocky outcropping. All the way down the beach, there was a large cliff wall, a smaller area of sand, and then the ocean. But no Jin. As she kept walking, a while later, the hairs on the back of her neck started to prickle. Looking behind herself worriedly, and finding nothing, she uneasily shrugged it off as being paranoia.

'Just calm down,' She told herself, 'you're scaring yourself.'

But she couldn't shake the feeling of bring watched. Craning her neck back, she looked up the cliff wall. But no one was up there, watching her. She looked out to the sea, and saw nothing. She laughed nervously, and then she smelled it. It was quite like the smell of rotting fish. But she had seen no dead fish in the shallows. But still the only sound she heard was the ocean.

'Well, Jin wouldn't have left me if I was in danger, or something.' She thought, still looking for the location of the scent. 'I should be safe.'

'. . . Right?'

A cold, slimy hand clamped down on her shoulder. Zamba shrieked and dropped her sword as she pulled away. Mentally preparing a rant to sling at Jin, she whirled around to meet eyes that should belong to a fish.

The creature was like a horrible cross-breed between a fish and a Human. It stared at her with lidless eyes and gasping mouth, like it was fighting to breathe. The dead fish smell was emanating from it. She olive-green-eyes girl stared at it, slightly disgusted. She began to back away.

The brownish-grey fish stood watching her blankly, its head cocked to the side; mouth still opening and closing, and gills down its abdomen and neck fluttered open and closed, flashing red. Suddenly it lunged at her, faster than she could suck in a breath. Its long, webbed, bony, slimy hands clasped onto her neck and yanked her off the ground and held her aloft.

Flailing and gasping, her eyes wide, she clutched at the hands on her neck, clawing and sliding over the slippery film on them. She desperately tried to struggle out of its grasp, and slowly began to fade as her air supply was slowly cut off methodically. Suddenly, a groggy plan formed, and she kicked upwards hopefully, closing her eyes. She felt and heard the crunch and she was dropped unceremoniously. Her foot had connected with the fish-human's jaw, and it had dropped her, hissing a garbled wail of pain as it brought its hands to the injured area.

Zamba scrambled away, but was now hemmed in. The fish-demon had attacked her in an alcove in the wall, the only was she could get away was though it. Walls rose up on both sides of her, and there was a wall behind.

Pressing her back to the wall behind her, she looked wildly for anything she could use to defend herself with. Hearing a sound, she whipped her gaze up to see more of the same fish-demons emerging from the sand and ocean.

They went to the injured one, seemingly to help it. The injured one was screaming a different wail now, though. It seemed almost terrified, attempting to hide its face with its hands. One of the fish demons seized the injured fish's arm, almost to pull it away from its face, but then began to pull harder. Zamba looked away, but could still hear the sounds of the bone cracking and flesh tearing away.

Turning to the wall, an idea formed in her head. She reached up and grabbed onto a handhold, tested it, then pulled herself up. The sound of something hitting flesh forcefully came from behind her and the wails ceased. Disgusted, she scaled the wall as well as she could. When she reached the top, she got up and ran, thankful she had liked rock climbing so much in school.

Eventually, she slowed to a trot, then a walk, and finally a stop when she figured she was far enough away. She plopped down, staring up at the sky. 'I want to go home.' She complained to herself, fisting handfuls of grass and chucking them up in the air in a childish temper tantrum.

Frustration vented, she stood, brushing off some grass that had landed on her, and finally looked at her surroundings. She was standing in front of a house. It looked a bit worse for wear, but smoke was curling steadily from the chimney. Smoke usually mean warmth, and warmth usually mean food. Zamba's mouth began to water, and she found herself walking up to and knocking on the door. It creaked open. Curiously, she looked around, noticing many things at once.

First, she noticed the house was filled with weapons and armors of different shapes, sizes, and even metals. Second, she noticed there was a large hunk of metal hanging from the ceiling on a rope. Third, she saw a table, set with soup bowls, and a large cauldron simmering over a fire, filled with what Zamba assumed to be soup.

"Hello?" The black girl stepped into the house almost timidly, sneaking over to the cauldron and picking up a bowl on her way past. Carrying the bowl around, she called around the house, and when no one answered, she returned to the kitchen.

A few minutes later, she stood nearby the cauldron, eating soup almost greedily, and feeling bad for doing so. 'Well, I _am_ stealing, really, even though I haven't eaten in forever. . .'

"What are you doing in my house?" A voice demanded from the doorway. Zamba whipped around, some noodles hanging out of her mouth, to face a particularly fierce-looking woman. Her burnished armor glinted dully in the sun. Strangely, though there was enough armor here to construct multiple suits of armor, the tall woman only wore one piece of armor for each extremity. An armguard on her right arm, a shoulder guard on her left, an odd looking piece of armor on her right hip, and a shin guard that incased her lower left leg. She was also wearing a long tunic made of leather.

"Uh, I . . . Uh." The noodles fell back into Zamba's bowl as she scrambled for an excuse for breaking and entering. Or entering and eating, really. "I was going to pay?"

The fierce-looking woman stared at her, her expression slowly turning into that of curiosity and wonder. She strode into the room, crossing it quickly and tossing aside a javelin, and a sword that Zamba thought she recognized before dropping the soup bowl and scampering away.

The woman caught her shoulder easily, spinning her around and holding her at arms length. "Can you bend metal?" She asked the freaked-out girl. It took a moment for the question to register in Zamba's mind. 'Wait, what?'

The woman smiled. "I though so. You're a neophyte, aren't you?"

Zamba stared at the woman, looking confused. "A what?"

"You're a metal nymph, a fledgling metal nymph. Just learning how to bend and twist metals? " The fierce-woman asked, pulling Zamba over to the metal pendulum.

"Uh, um, No?" She lied, not wanting to be taken someplace.

The woman ignored her. "Sit here." She said, pushing Zamba into a stool seat at the table. "Watch." She instructed, grabbing a hold of the metal swinging on the rope. The woman took her other hand and plunged it into the metal.

Slightly fascinated, Zamba watched as veins of a coppery color slithered through the darker metal on the pendulum. It slowly blended until there wasn't a trace of the dark metal left. A large copper slab now hung in its place.

Zamba turned to the woman. "Who are you?" She asked. "Who are you; seeing as you broke into my house and raided my kitchen." The woman shot back, smiling slightly.

"Zamba Nessrhor." Zamba blurted.

"Well, Zamba, I'm Sarama. I am a metal nymph, as you could probably tell by now." The fierce-looking woman smiled wanly again.

Zamba stared around at the house, and then looked to the older metal nymph. "Teach me."


End file.
